Blackpool FC: Neil Critchley’s time with Liverpool, his relationship with Jurgen Klopp and Steven Gerrard, and the players he’s impacted

The 44-year-old held a number of roles in the academy during his time with the Reds, and even took charge of two first team games.

His experience with the Merseyside club means he will have a good idea of what to expect from their U21s on their visit to Bloomfield Road.

We spoke to Liverpool reporter Neil Jones to find out more about Critchley’s time with the Reds.

Here’s what he had to say:

Critchley’s time at Liverpool

“Neil Critchley has been a key member of Alex Inglethorpe’s era as academy director at Liverpool.

"A lot of people have passed through that system and gone on to do great things with other clubs.

"You’ve got Michael Beale, Pep Lijnders who is with Liverpool’s first team, Steve Cooper who is at Nottingham Forest, Mike Marsh who is assistant coach to Ryan Lowe at Preston, and Steven Gerrard of course- the biggest name of them all.

"Neil Critchley was there throughout most of that period, and had big roles in the U18s and U21s.”

First team games

"The biggest thing he’ll be remembered for is being in charge of the Liverpool first team for two games, albeit very young sides born out of circumstance rather than anything else.

"He managed the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup in December in 2019, because Liverpool’s first team were in Qatar for the Club World Cup, so they sent an U21s side to Villa Park- which they lost 5-0.

"The other game was the following February in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury.

"That was due to Liverpool protesting against the amount of fixtures and that cup replays were being played during the winter break, so the U21s stepped in. They won that 1-0.”

"That’s where the seeds were sown for him to go into his own managerial career.

"It definitely accelerated the process. It wasn’t long after that he embarked on his own managerial career with Blackpool.”

Relationship with Jurgen Klopp

"At the time the academy and the first team training complexes were split.

"It wasn’t a case of Jurgen being able to stroll down from his office and walk across to watch the U21s or the U18s train.

"It was more detached in those days.

"Critchley’s experience taking charge of a first team game was when there was more dialogue between the two.”

Relationship with Steven Gerrard

"Steven took him to Aston Villa, he was the guy he chose to replace Michael Beale after he left.

"There was clearly a respect for the work he can do with developing players.

“He’s always had a good reputation for that and his character.

"There was a respect on the grass, and he’s a sounding board as a very level headed person.”

The players he’s impacted

"Circumstance dictated that he got to manage two games.

"If you look at the player he had in that period, I can go through the team that played Shrewsbury.

"Caoimhin Kelleher, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones are all with the first team at Liverpool, while Neco Williams is a Wales international.

"He also played a part in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s development from midfielder to a fullback.”

The full interview with Jones on Critchley is available as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Dailymotion.